Method of making platform shoes



- AZ- 7 1945 w. P. LE R51-TE 2,381,503

I METHOD OF MAKING PLATFORM SHOES Filed oct. 5, 1942 5 Sheets-sheet 2 v`//vl/f/m, i mi? W. P. LE vvRETTE METHOD oF MAKING PLATFORM sHoEs Aug.'7, 1945.

' Filed oct. 5, 1942 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 paiftisllocated vlengthwise.

whichis preattached togth Patented Aug. 7,1945

jrhij' invention "relates to omnibus off making shoesy offthetype knownas platform shoes,y i'.4 e' 'shoesfha'ving amiddle soleor platforbetween r't-,l'ie'outerfsole'and"thejupper.V l j bieclts" 0i 'the'. iventidn: ,aref/w .improve trie. A'oonstufct nIand reduce the oostv ofmanufacture of platform' hoes tand,

shallbe accurately located 'lengthwise withl Vrespettothshoe. theacoornplisl'irrie'nt ot these objects Iem- Dloylbetween the upper andthe outsole of4 myi'rnpjrovedplzatvform. shoe ka tw'opart platformmeinmpijising 'a 'forepart'anda rear part., and curing :an upperfandi eAtogether in 'assembled relation upon aflast assemble the twofp altform1'lpartsupon the bottom of. a shoe 'so tha thesefparts,thenc'onstitute afull length piaiform 'or middle 561e.; lAS' herein inumated theforeprart platform' ,member-is `made Aof flexible inaterial'randits'edge isbound with lay ycovering strip, b ore the' memberfis applied.to', the shoe. 'H 's" showin@ also, the, rear platiorm partis'ofl rigidonstrutiomfbine Dreferjblvlade of Wood; and it shapedlike also-calledWedge ,heeL'itsrear p tion ltaliii'jig the place otanordinaryheel 4andepfatl being of tapering or'wedge formation soAA as?. tto fill the`space beneathfthe arched shanky"po`1tic-` n` ofthe shoe. I,Advantageouslyathe forepa'rt Y platform member-is located lengthwise'o'.,fy ythe shoeby gagirig.froml'the toewendfof the shoe;`afterYwlilioli'itis'temporarily1 secured inV place by*Lmeans` of staplesorl thelilie whilethe rear by', ygaging` from' the of .the shoe.Thefillustrated'. rear .platp t; isirabbeted at its lower side to.receive the rear portion'fof the rplatform-forepalrt :andto formup'onlthe rear partafor'wardly extendinglip whiblfl is:l overlapped uponthe vforeparty member and'is secured to the jlatter'after the, rear parthas been'properly located lony the shoeQ,r This con- 'sl'fruct'ion,makesit practicable 'forl platform parts of;a"given size'to be used'not onlywith shoes of corresponding sizebutalsdwith[larger 'shoes' ij'lynnv,`United ShoeMahinery Corporation,

l ton., NufJr, a corporation of Neri/,7.71y lelyscyl platform part andturned inwardly edge and" the lower embraces thel upper. `Thereafter,the covering stripisinvertedglayed over the edge of the `rear over themargin of 'the"-lower `f ace of the latter and over the lfa'ceof the'rear extremityfof the previouslycovered forepart platform member. In theillustrated shoethe iorepart platform member isA securedbythrough-andethrough stitehing to the upper andthe insole while the rearplatform member is secured to the shoeby nails driven/through the insolevfrom' the inside attached of the shoe,` after i whichan outsole is i bymeansof ,cement tothe rimmedl margins-0f viii . completedr shoe.

'of the' twoepairt platform of my f Fig.' 12 isla the ,coveringl stripsori-'the 'lower sides of the platform members.y i f The inventioriwillnowfbefexplained with ref` 'erence tothe accor,ripanyin'g drawings; in'which AFig.I 1 is'aper'spectiv'e View of the flexible sole member-whichy constitutes the l'forward portion A improved shoe;

Fig.;2.is"aperspective viewof the'rigdjheel andl shank piecewhichconstitutes the rear pornon ofthe two-parrplatform; f

' is'fa fragmentary sectional view yof Vthe 'uppe g V the shoeI'slxiowirigf4 the'f coveringstrip which fislpreattach'e'd tothe upperand is utilized to cover 'the edge ofthe heeland shank'ipi'ece; 4. is `aperspective ready for thefapplication thereto ofthe platformmembers,"`the" s'l1oe'beingy shown in inverted posi-r GiOi'l` v l" .Y.Fig 5 is aperspectiveview of theshoe as it appears after themernbersfof the two-part plat'- `form have been assembled therewith; Fig.l 6 isa fragmentary erspective View of the shoe agit appears when readyiorthereception of the' outsole; i u i n ligslflI ,3y and 9 arel-fragmentary cross-sectional ,views ,taken substantially `,along thelines VIL-VIL VIII- VII' and Di-IX; respectively, ofFg; fr' K, n Fig.y10 isa longitudinal sectional view of the shoe in the condition invwhich' it appears f in Fig".4 411 is a nv iewfin `side elevation ofthecompleted'shoe; and fV iongimdinal 'Sectional viewer the yyiaefeiwijng to the drawings, my improved' shoe comprises an' insole I6v(,liiggvlz), an'upper I8 the lower margin of` whichisfoverlaste'd'fupon ythe insole, anxouter or tread 'sole 20, and a.twofp'art between the `Guter platform which isv interposed solevand theovirlasted margins of the upperand which consists of aifiexibie roreparrplatform View of a lasted shoe heel and shank piece 24. The coveringstrip 34" is disposed, as shown, with the-'side that :isto be outermostin the finished shoe facing the upper and with one edge ofthestripalined'with' the lower edge of the upper :and the stitch'e's"32are sewn close to the alined edges of the parts.

In making the shoe the upper .I'8fwith theclfiver-y ing strip 34attached thereto is assembled with the insole I6 on a last and; lastedin the. usual way and the margin -of the -upper--togetherwift-h,themarginal portion of the fcoveri-ng- .strip .-34 which is stitched to theupper are secured in. overl'asted position upon the insoleasby. means-ofstaples `38 -in .the` forepart and :tacks -4IJ-in the 4heel shankportions of theshoe, the poin-tsrof theffstaples ,and tacksbeingrclenched..overqthe inner side ofthe insole by mea-ns of-a metallic,plate VlfllDOn y.the last vbottom-.;v 4-

'Ihe forepart iplatformmemberlfZ consists of a piecefofyiieXi-lrlle,material, such aswfelt, cork composition, rubber or thelike, andit is shaped in edge contour to vcorrespond to that of theforepart of the outsole and to eXtendr-earwardly a sho-rt fdistancel.only into the shank ,portion of --the shoefbottom, asindicateud Vat 42`in Fig. 12. Before :this platform member 2.2 is applied to .the shoefanedge vbinding yor lcovering Vstrip, 44 is. appliedso-asfto Coverallportions .of the edge vof the member, -except its rear edge .face45(Fig. 1) and towoverlap .the adjacent :margins .of its upper andlowersides, as `bes-t shown inEig. 1, the covering stripbeing..advantageouslysecured .in place by Vmeans. of cement. Thisforeport `platform member 22, with .the edge. binding or'covering 44thereon, is shoe bottom, as shown in Fig. 5,. its position lengthwise ofthe shoe being accurately gaged from thetoeend ofthe shoe, and .itistemporarily secured in place by means of staples "46 which are. driveninto the` insoleand are left upstanding,-,as shown, so;tha t .later they.may be easily removed.

The rear platform member. or heel and shank pieoe-24 is ,preferablyymade `of wood and .is shaped to correspond in marginal contourto thatof the heel yand shankportion of theoutsole of the shoe. `The memberY 24.has a fiat bottom 'face 48x-and it is Ainadeo-f substantial thicknessto take the place of ya heel. The front portion of ythe member 24 yistapered at its upper side, thus providing va `wedge .forma-tion. forfilling the varched portion of the shoe bottom. The forward extremityofthe .member 24 .ishotohed or rabbeted Iat its lower side to receivethe .rear portion of thevv forepart :platform member 22, the rabbetingoperation forming a vertical shoulder 50 .of a height equal to thethickness of the forepart member. 22 and .a lip 52 which-.extendsforwardly vfrom the shoulder 50 tooverlie vand be secured to theforepart member. member, 22 has ybeen temporarily ysecured tothe shoe asdescribed, the rear. member or heel-andshankv piece,

36, the shoe is pulled "overl then. laid, Vupon the forepart of theA`241is laid onthe .shoe bottom with 28, respectively (Fig. 11), .and aposite'edges of the After the forepart platform the heel and shank4ering strip 34,

end of the shoe. The rear part member having been located lengthwise ofthe shoe and the op# lip 52 having been alined with the correspondingedges of the rear extremity of the forepart I:member 24, staples y54sare driven through the latter and through the lip 52 and into theinsole to secure the forward portion of piece to the shoe. The covvwhichat this time extends from its area of attachment to the shoe bottomupwardly in embracing engagement with the upper, as show-n yin Figs. 4and 5, is inverted, i. e., it is turned away from the upper and towardthe edge Aof the 'heel 4and vshank piece 24 to cover the latter, and thefree marginal portion of the covering strip iis -folded inwardly uponthe flat bottom face 48 of the piece 124 ,and .secured to the latter asby means of .tacks 56 (Fig. 6).. Inasmuch as the covering r.strip4 34extends forwardly a-short distance beyond the rear extremity of theforepart platform member 22, theforward portion of the covering stripoverlaps the rear portion of the edge binding or covering 44 on theforepartmember, as clearly shown in Figs. Grand "8, so that a neat jointis formedbetween the two covering strips 34 and 44. Y

At this stage of operations, the`last'36 is withdrawn from the shoe. Theforepart platform member 22 is then lpermanently and securely attachedto the insole lby means of through-andthrough stitches 60 which are sewnso as to extend through the inturned 'margins of the edge binding 4'4and through the member 22 and the insole I6 and the staples 46 whichserved as means for temporarily securing the member 22 to vthe, shoe areremoved. As shown in Figs. 6 and 8, the stitches 60 at the rearextremity of the forepart member 22 extend Valso through the lip 52 ofthe heel and shank piece '24 .and through the inturne'd margins of theheel-and-shank-piece covering 34, thereby securing together theoverlapping portions rof the coveringstrips 34 and V44 andsupplementingthe action ofthe staples been Acustomary heretofore toemploy a one-piece platform sole of full shoe length and to determineits location lengthwise of ing the position of the toe end of .the solewith reference to the toe end of the shoe. VThe practice .of such a.method of locating platform .soles the same as with which it is to beused. y In preparing the Iparts of -m-y improved twopart platform..however, it is unnecessary to furnish yplatform ,parts in 4a vcompleterun of sizes since, byassembling the two partsof a platform Vso that thelip 52 of the rear part member overlaps the forepart member more or lessaccordabutting relation y part, and the lip and expense in makingvone-third or one-quarter as many sizes need be 'provided as would'claim as new and desire to secure covering strip with an insole on aing to the size or length of the shoe, platform parts of one size may beused upon shoes within a range of several sizes. smallest size withwhich platform parts of a given size may be used the rear edge of theplatform will be disposed close to, or substantially in to, the shoulder50 of the rear 52 of the rear part will overlap. the forepart throughoutsubstantially the full width of the lip as shown in Figs. 5,17 and 10.Platform parts of the particular size above mentioned may be used withlarger shoes within the range of the next two or three sizes,however,-in which cases there will be spaces of different width betweenthe rear part shoulder 50 and the rear edge of the forepart, thesespaces and the amount of overlap of the rear part lip upon the forepartplatform member varying accordingto the particular size of the shoe.This practice of v using one size of platform parts for several sizes ofshoes results in a substantial savingvof'time the platform sinceonly benecessary if one-piece platforms were employed. There are various otheradvantages incident to the construction and method of making my improvedplatform shoe. For example, by providing separate coverings on theforepart and rear part of the platform, the platform covering operationsare simplified, it being unnecessary to pattern the covering strips forvcovering the relatively thin forepart and wider portionsfor covering therelatively thick rear lpart of the platform and there being'nodifficulties such as 'those involved in the application of a coveringstrip of non-uniform width to a platform of non-uniform thickness. Also,by

' employing for the heel and shank portion of the lplatform a coveringstrip which has been preattached to the upper, the covering ,operationwillresult in drawing form close to the bottom of the shoe andvtherewill be no gap between the covered upper margin of the lplatform and theupper of the shoe. v,

The invention having been described, what I by LettersPatent of theUnited vStates ls: i

1. 'Ihat improvement in platform` shoes which consists n upper havingheel nad waist portions and a forepart, attaching a covering strip tothe lower margins of the heel and waist portions only ofthe upper,assembling the' upper and the attached last, lastingthe Thus, for a shoeof the the rear portion of the platl methods of making in providing anplatform shoes which consists 'in lasting a shoe consisting of an insoleand an upper and securing said parts together, laying a bound edgeplatform forepart .and an unbound platform rear part upon the bottom ofthe shoe with the front end of said rear part and the rear end of saidforepart in overlapping relation, determining the longitudinal positionsof said parts on the shoe bottom by gaging that of the forepart from thetoe end of the shoe and that of the rear part from the heel end ofrplatform forepart ings through said parts to secure them to the shoe,and securing an outsole to said platform parts. Q

3` That improvement in methods of making platform shoes which consistsin providing an upper having a covering strip attached to the lower.margins vof its heel and shank portions only, assembling the upper withthe covering strip attached thereto and an insole on the last, lastingthe shoe and securing the marginal portion of the upper together withthe attached `p0rtions of the covering strip to the insole, laying ahaving an edge binding thereon upon the bottom of the shoe, gaging theposition of said platform forepart lengthwise of the shoe by referenceto the toe `end of the shoe, driving a fastening through said forepartplatform and the insole, laying an independent platform rear part uponthe bottom of the shoe with its front so that they will have relativelynarrow portions v shoe and securing the margin of the upper togetherwith ing strip to wise of the shoe from the heel end of the shoe,

covering strip over the edge and sethe lower side of said rear partthereto the shoe, securingr the upper and laying said curing it to bysecuring said said forepart platform member to unbound rear part to saidrear part platform member, and securing l an outsole to said platformmembers. v

2. That improvement in method of rmaking end overlapping the rear end ofsaid forepart platform, locating the rear portion of said platformlengthwise of the shoe with reference to the heel 'end of the shoe,securingsaid overlapping portions together, wrapping said covering stripover the edge and over the bottom of said platform rear part and overthe edges of the overlapping portions of said platform `parts and overthe bottom of the rear portion of the platform forepart, removing thelast, stitching through the lplatform forepart of the shoe, se-

curing said platform rear part to the insole, and attaching an outsoleto the shoe.

4. That improvement in methods of making platform shoes which consistsin providing an upper having-heel and shank portions and a forepart,attaching a covering strip to the lower margin' vof the heel and shankportions of the upper, assembling the upper and the attached coveringstrip with an insole lon a last, lasting the shoe and securing themargin of the upper together with the attached portion of the coveringstrip to the insole, securing to the shoe a forepart platform solemember located relatively to the toe end and into the shank portion ofthe shoe bottom, positioning a heel-and-shank platform member upon theheel-and-shank portion of the'shoe bottom with its rear end located withrespect t0 the heel end and with the forward portion of said memberoverlapping said forepart member, securing the overlapping-portions ofsaid `members together, laying said covering strip over the edge 4ofsaid heel-and-shank platform member and over the shank extension of saidforepart strip to the lower sidesof said members, securing saidheeland-shank platform member to the insole by fastening inserted fromthe inside of the shoe, and attaching an outsole to said members.

' WILLIAM P. LE RETTE,

the shoe, thereafter applying a covering strip to said platform partsto' cover the edge of said rear part and overlap the extending a shortdistance only

